If you want to knock 10 years off your look, this post is for you! From skincare and makeup tips, to haircuts and styles, to nutrition and exercise, we’re sharing tons of tricks to help you look younger naturally. Whether you’re in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, these beauty tips and lifestyle hacks will transform your look, helping you look and feel your best, both inside and out!
16 Ways to Look Younger Naturally
1. Sleep
If you’re looking for ways to look younger naturally, my first tip is to make sure you’re getting enough shut eye each night. Getting 7-9 hours of good quality sleep on the regular doesn’t just reduce the appearance of dark circles under your eyes and increase your energy. It also allows your skin cells time to repair and regenerate, and gives your body the opportunity to produce more collagen, which helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles and gives you a youthful glow.
2. Use Moisturizer Daily
Moisturizer is non-negotiable if you want to prevent wrinkles and look younger as dry skin dehydrates skin cells that were once plump and youthful. Although moisturizers don’t technically prevent wrinkles, they keep your skin hydrated so you don’t develop premature lines and wrinkles.
3. Exfoliate Weekly
Exfoliation is an important step in your skin care process, but too much exfoliation can be damaging to your skin. On the flip side, never exfoliating means you aren’t getting rid of the build up of bacteria and dead skin cells that live on your face, which can leave your skin looking rough and dull. If you’re looking for simple ways to look younger naturally, use a gentle exfoliator like Paula’s Choice Exfoliate once a week.
4. Enhance Your Sunscreen Routine
The sun is one of the main skin aging culprits. If you don’t wear sunscreen, you can be sure your skin will start aging at a quick pace, especially as you get older. The sun’s UV rays can get through whether it’s sunny or cloudy, summer or winter, so you should be applying sunscreen everyday if you want your skin to stay youthful. If sunscreen causes you to break out, Vichy Capital Soleil Body & Face Sunscreen is a great option. It’s oil-free, fragrance-free, noncomedogenic, and allergy-tested, making it the perfect solution for sensitive and/or acne-prone skin!
5. Start Using Retinoids or Retinol
As we get older, we begin losing collagen, which is a protein that keeps our skin looking smooth and lifted. Retinoids (the prescription-strength version of vitamin A) help your skin produce more collagen, making them an obvious choice if you’re looking for ways to look younger naturally. If you’re not quite ready for retinoids, there’s also a gentler version of vitamin A you can get over the counter called retinol. It’s formulated for sensitive skin and many women swear by it! Neutrogrena’s Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair is a great retinol to start with.
6. Avoid Going too Heavy with Foundation
Heavy foundation tends to look caked on and ends up accumulating in fine lines, so if you’re looking for ways to look younger naturally, swap out your full coverage matte foundation for a lighter formula. Bare Minerals Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream is a great, light-weight option for gals who can get away with minimal coverage.
7. Fill in Your Brows
There’s nothing like too-thin eyebrows to really age a woman. Make sure you don’t over pluck, and try a brow growth serum to make them fuller. You can also use a good brow pencil like Anastasia Beverly Hill’s Brow Whiz to bring them back to life. Use soft strokes so they look as natural as can be.
For all the best brow-shaping tips and hacks, check out THIS POST!
8. Avoid Wearing Dark Matte Lipstick
Dark lipsticks aren’t totally out of the question for middle-aged beauties, but opt for a sheer gloss over a matte. As we age, our lips become smaller, which can make lipstick more prone to bleeding and feathering. If you’re wearing dark shades in matte, the bleeding is more noticeable, so stick to a gloss like Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Kiss Me Coral.
9. Curl Your Lashes
Another one of my favorite and oh-so-simple ways to look younger naturally is to curl your lashes. The goal is to work against gravity and keep everything going up to make your eyes look bigger and brighter, giving your face a more youthful look. If your lashes are short, use a lengthening mascara like Lancome’s Hypnose Mascara to help with elongation.
10. Avoid Wearing Mascara on Your Lower Lashes
While we’re talking about lashes and mascara, another quick tip that will make you look younger is to avoid wearing mascara on your lower lashes as this can make your eyes look droopy and highlight under eye bags. It can also accentuate your under eye wrinkles, making your eyes look older. Instead of mascara, opt for subtle, blended brown eyeliner on your bottom lid. Smashbox Always Sharp Waterproof Eye Liner in Penny Lane is a great option. It’s always sharp for easy application, can be smudged for a smokey look, and will last all day.
11. Cut Your Hair
The shoulder-length cut is super flattering for middle aged women as it grazes the décolletage and gently frames the face. Shoulder-length hairstyles are also one of the best ways to create the illusion of fuller, thicker hair, which undeniably makes you look younger. Shorter cuts like a bob or pixie cut are also great options as they remove length and weight from your hair, drawing attention to features like your jawline, cheekbones, and eyes. They can be elegant or edgy, offering many styling possibilities!
12. Give Bangs a Try
Bangs are a great way to make you look younger. Soft, wispy bangs give your face a more youthful appearance, but make sure not to cut them too short that they draw more attention to your fine lines than you want. You can wear your bangs in the front or sweep them to the side for a more dimensional look. Work with a stylist to find the best bang length and look for you!
13. Get Highlights
If you’re looking for ways to look younger naturally, give some thought to your hair color. Lightly-hued highlights around your face add warmth and light to your complexion, making you look younger, and they also help to camouflage grey hairs! Many women opt to go completely blonde as they get older to reduce the appearance of grey hairs, and while this is certainly a good option, be careful to stay away from ashy blond colours, which have icy blue-based pigments that accentuate discolouration and creases in the skin. Opt for a honey blond hue with a golden base instead as it will leave a soft, warm cast that will compliment your complexion, so your lines get blurred and your face glows!
14. Exercise
Regular exercise isn’t just about weight loss – it also improves your mood and energy levels, helps you sleep better, reduces inflammation, and improves the function of your skin. All of these things combined will help you look and feel younger, so if you’re in search of ways to look younger naturally, commit to 30 minutes of physical activity each day and see if you notice a difference. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
15. Drink Lots of Water
We all know H2O does the body good. From keeping us hydrated so we feel energized, to flushing out toxins and improving our complexion, to boosting our immune systems, water is where it’s at, but what few people realize is that it’s a fabulous tool to make you look younger. And it’s free! Drinking lots of water will help your skin stay soft, healthy, and supple. Try to drink at least 2 litres of water per day, especially after exercising.
16. Improve Your Diet
My final tip for those who are looking for ways to look younger naturally is to clean up your diet. Reduce your consumption of unhealthy vices like sugar, caffeine, and alcohol, and focus on eating a balanced diet filled with leafy greens, lean proteins, good-for-you fats, and antioxidants. This will help with weight loss and maintenance, reduce inflammation, increase your energy, improve the function of your skin, and (you guessed it!) make you look and feel younger.
From skincare and makeup tips, to haircuts and styles, to nutrition and exercise, there are lots of simple ways to look younger naturally. I hope the tips and ideas in this post inspire you to adopt new habits that will help you look and feel your best every single day!
